Attended the monthly meeting of the Police Amateur Radio Team, PART, WB1GOF, in Westford, MA on Tuesday. I presented the Appalachian Trail photo essay that I have and had a great time there. Their club president, Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ, made me feel very at home.

They were a wonderful audience and there were lots of laughs about many of the encounters as I hiked the trail. It was a surprisingly good turnout for a summer meeting.

One of the members has posted photos of the meeting on their web site: PART meeting photos .

If you have an organization that is looking for a speaker’s presentation, please do contact me and we’ll see what we can work out. I will be working my way south from New Hampshire to Sarasota, Florida in late August and early September. During the winter months I will be in Florida and will be making visits all over the state.

Possible candidate groups for the presentation are hiking clubs, ham radio clubs, heart surgery recovery groups, book clubs, Sierra Clubs and libraries.

Dennis “K1” Blanchard

Bears.
Yesterday Jane and I were in N. Woodstock, NH hiking the Mt. Hancock
peaks. After the hike we were headed to Rt. 93 to go home and a black
bear ran across the road in front of us. At least I didn’t see it while
on the hike. The fiercest animal we saw on the hike was a toad.

This bear was jet black and caught me off guard since we were so close to the entrance ramp to the highway. It scampered across the road, stopping traffic and then dove off into the woods. It was probably coming into town near nightfall to check out the restaurant dumpsters for food scraps, which means it is headed for a troubled and possibly short life.

Hopefully I can soon get back up there into the woods and spend some more time there.

Dennis

Having spent a few days now in New Hampshire I can attest to just how flat Florida is. The first day here I took a walk with my daughter and found myself breathing heavily; without a pack and only walking three miles.

Over the last three days I have managed bike rides of 22, 20 and 28 miles. In Florida I’d hardly notice those rides, but here in New Hampshire I’m huffing and puffing. Fortunately I fixed the front derailleur on my bicycle before attempting riding the hills around here. It has been broken for months while I was in Sarasota and since it was stuck in the high gears I didn’t consider it a high-priority. It would be impossible to ride here without the lower ranges.

All this exercise is good training for getting out and spending some time on the trails soon. My legs may not be ready, but at least the lungs will get a little training ahead of time. The heart has been getting a workout.

Speaking of things related to health, I found a very good website that relates to Heart Coronary Artery Bypass Graft , or CABG (pronounced “cabbage”).
As most of my readers know, I underwent this surgery during my Appalachian Trail hike in 2007, so I am officially a CABG Patch Kid. If you know someone that may be facing this procedure in the near future, or has already undergone it, you might check the website out, it is really informative and condenses everything into understandable terms.

I consider Sarasota Memorial Hospital the center of the universe for this procedure, they saved my life and I haven’t looked back (except for the chapter in my book of course.)

Don’t ignore the symptoms; I did and found later that it could have killed me.

Have fun out there and enjoy the summer!

Dennis, “K1”

At some point in August I plan on getting out on the A.T. and doing some “Trail Angel” activity. So many helped me along the way, now it is my turn. My dilemma is to determine where I will have the most impact. Where will the majority of hikers be passing through on a given day? In mid August I would guess the main body would be in the VT/NH sections.

My plan is to take some coolers full of soft drinks, energy drinks and bottled water. Food will be things that are simple to grill, such as hot dogs, burgers and veggie burgers, rolls, and maybe some salads and such. I’m looking forward to meeting some number of this years crop of thru-hikers. On Twitter.com I see that some number are already up in Maine. They’re doing consistent near-thirty mile days and are just super human. I believe on my single best day I did something like 26 miles, but as a rule was around 17 miles.

If things work out I will try to do a few days out on the trail as well; it will be fun to hang the hammock and be in the midst of those that are on the hike of their lives.

Dennis.

On the way to New Hampshire I stopped at the Horseshoe Curve Restaurant and Tavern at Snickers Gap, Virginia. In my book, Three Hundred Zeroes, the dogs there, Brigan and Buca played a significant role in helping me with my lunch. They were two adorable old dogs, sisters, that won my heart.

I didn’t get to see them on this visit, although I did hear them. The owner, Tracee Wink was away and I don’t think the manager there at the time felt he could turn them loose without the owner being there. Too bad, they probably would have gotten most of my lunch again.

The Horseshoe Curve Restaurant is situated on an extreme downhill horseshoe curve and is a journey back in time. As I describe in the book, it was the closest thing I have ever seen in this country to a British Pub. The food is wholesome, homemade and for a hungry hiker, it is perfect. The atmosphere is friendly and will be certain to take away your worries. The walls are a virtual beer museum.

If you’re out that way, or hiking the Appalachian Trail, it is a must! On the north side of the A.T. trail crossing, before it goes back into the woods after crossing VA 7, just mosey down the road there and you won’t regret it.

Tell them I said hello.

Dennis “K1” Blanchard

I was driving through Bristol, Connecticut yesterday and talking with some friends on my VHF ham radio and they were telling me about an article they read in the Hartford Courant that I had written a few weeks back. After I submitted it, I never heard anything and didn’t realize that they actually printed it. It has a nice photo of my rattlesnake friend on the trail.

Hartford Courant piece: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL

Enjoy.

Dennis “K1” Blanchard

We had a larger than normal (for this time of year) turnout for our Sarasota Authors Connection meeting at the Fruitville Library. I was invited to speak about Indie Publishing: What works, and what doesn’t. We had about an hour and a half and it was fun filled and I hope, informative.

We covered a lot of material in a short period of time and I gave out handouts that referenced most of what I covered so the audience could just follow along without having to take many notes.

Since the meeting I have had a number of folks ask if I could come and give the presentation at their organization. As time permits I will take it under consideration and see what I can do.

Thanks to all that attended, it was a great audience and there is nothing better that makes a presentation go well than a lively, interested audience.

Dennis

I just wanted to post a quick thank you to all you folks that are ordering and reading Three Hundred Zeroes. As an author there is nothing more gratifying than knowing that people are not only reading your book, but really enjoying it. We had a 60th birthday party for a member of my family last night and a number of friends, some that I had not seen in some time, attended and naturally there was some discussion about Three Hundred Zeroes.

It was wonderful to hear all the laughter and discourse about the book and to realize that I’ve been able to bring so much joy and laughter into so many lives. If there is any purpose to one’s life, it should be to create those things that bring us all together and I can’t think of anything better than a book.

Thank you everyone, it does my heart good.

Dennis “K1” Blanchard
Sarasota, Florida

Just a quick note that I’m using @k1ypp for the Twitter address for the book, Three Hundred Zeroes . Do follow and I will in turn follow you on Twitter. My plan is to just Tweet things of interest, such as book signings, hiking presentations (I have a ton of nice photos from the Appalachian Trail) and fun things related to the book.

I’ve received a new shipment of books with the 2010 Next Generation Indie Awards Contest medallion on them and they look great. Of course their available on amazon.com, or as signed copies via Paypal. (see button on this page).

I was talking with a group of people today that have already read Three Hundred Zeroes and we had a riot laughing about all the funny incidents that occurred along the trail. Thus far my bear encounters seem to bring the most laughs. what do you think? Post a comment.

Thanks once again for tuning in.

Dennis “K1” Blanchard

If you’ve ever thought about putting that story of yours into a
book, come and find out how you can do that.

I’ve been invited to
speak at the Sarasota Author’s Connection writers
club on July 13 at
the Fruitville Library at 6:00
pm. (Actually 6:15, but they do like to allow
schmooze time). The club is open to the public, and membership is FREE.
The club exists merely to give local authors and wannabe authors a
place to meet and exchange ideas.

My presentation is on Indie
Publishing (or self-publishing as it is otherwise known).
I’ll present a quick summary of how to get your book into print and how to market it and create buzz around your book.
I’m a relative novice in this area, and I’m still on the steep part of
the leaning curve, but I have learned a lot, sold a bunch of books and
would love to share what I’ve learned with you. Additionally, I get to
use my Toastmaster skill set in a real-world environment.

The
club usually has coffee available. Feel free to invite anyone interested, it should prove to be a fun and informative evening.

Dennis “K1” Blanchard